Marinha Grande

Marinha Grande
coat of arms map
Basic data
Region :	Centro
Sub-region :	Region of Leiria
District :	Leiria
Concelho :	Marinha Grande
Coordinates :	39 ° 45 ′  N , 8 ° 56 ′  W Coordinates: 39 ° 45 ′  N , 8 ° 56 ′  W
Residents:	31,434 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface:	135.83 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density :	231 inhabitants per km²
politics
Mayor :	Francisco Manuel Carvalho Duarte CDU
Address of the municipal administration:	Junta de Freguesia de Marinha Grande R. 25 April Vieira de Leiria 2430-000 Leiria
Website:	www.freg-mgrande.pt
Marinha Grande County
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Residents:	38,699 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface:	187.25 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density :	207 inhabitants per km²
Number of municipalities :	3
administration
Administration address:	Câmara Municipal de Marinha Grande Praça Stephens 2430-960 Marinha Grande
President of the Câmara Municipal:	Álvaro Manuel Marques Pereira ( PS )
Website:	www.cm-mgrande.pt

Marinha Grande is a municipality and city in the Leiria district in Portugal . 38,699 inhabitants live within the municipality, the population of the city is 31,434 (as of June 30, 2011).

history

Guilherme Stephens crystal factory in Marinha Grande, now a museum

In 1142 , D.Afonso Henriques conquered the area from the Moors . Afterwards, people settled at the mouth of the Lis and extracted salt here. At that time the river was still navigable as far as Leiria . An important factor in the development of the place was the creation of the forest area Pinhal de Leiria under D. Dinis , which subsequently became the most important wood supplier for shipbuilding in the country. The local production of charcoal, the silicon- containing sands of the region, and the local deposits of clay enabled the creation of glass and ceramics from 1748 .

Since 1769 the entrepreneur Guilherme Stephens became an important driving force behind the local industry. The Prime Minister Marquês de Pombal gave him interest-free loans, favorable property regulations and free wood deliveries from the nearby state forests for the renovation and recommissioning of the disused glass factory from 1748. As a result, a brisk glass industry developed and the region took off as a result.

In 1917 the Marinha Grande district was created, which had existed for a short time from 1836 to 1838 . In 1988 , the previous small town ( Vila ) Marinha Grande was elevated to a city ( Cidade ).

administration

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The communities in the district

Marinha Grande is the administrative seat of a district of the same name, bordered by the Leiria district in the north and east , the Alcobaça district in the south and the Atlantic Ocean in the west.

The following municipalities ( Freguesias ) are in the Marinha Grande district:

Marinha Grande County

local community	Population (2011)	Area km²	Density of population / km²	LAU code
Marinha Grande	31,434	135.83	231	101001
Moita	1,420	8.41	169	101003
Vieira de Leiria	5,845	43.01	136	101002
Marinha Grande County	38,699	187.25	207	1010

Population development

Population in Marinha Grande County (1920–2011)
1920	1930	1960	1981	1991	2001	2011
10 995	11 888	20 483	31 284	32 234	34 153	38 681

Town twinning

•  France : Fontenay-sous-Bois
•  Spain : San Ildefonso (La Granja) ( Segovia Province )
•  Cape Verde : Tarrafal
•  Portugal : Fundão
•  Portugal : Vila Real de Santo António
•  Portugal : Oeiras
•  Portugal : Montemor-o-Novo
•  Portugal : Oliveira de Azeméis
•  Portugal : Salvaterra de Magos

economy

Marinha Grande's main industry is glass-blowing and, in its modern form, the manufacture of plastic packaging . With around 250 companies that manufacture molds for the plastics industry, the region is one of the largest mold making regions in Europe.

traffic

The city is connected to Leiria and Lisbon by the A8 Autoestrada and north to Aveiro via the A17 Autoestrada .

Marinha Grande is included in the nationwide rail network over the Linha do Oeste route . It connects the city with Agualva-Cacém (Greater Lisbon) and Figueira da Foz .

Marinha Grande is integrated into the national bus network of Rede Expressos .

Sports

Atlético Clube Marinhense , founded in 1923, operates football, athletics and rugby. The Marinhense football team, which is now under-class, plays its home games in the Estádio Municipal da Marinha Grande .

The Portuguese orienteering association Federação Portuguesa de Orientação has its headquarters here.

sons and daughters of the town

• Lúcio Tomé Feteira (1901–2000), entrepreneur and politician
• Norberto Barroca (* 1937), actor, screenwriter and theater director
• Lenita Gentil (* 1948), fado singer
• Joana Morais Varela (* 1952), translator and literary scholar
• José Vieira da Silva (* 1953), economist and politician
• João Leiria (born 1983), actor
• Deolinda Bernardo , fado singer

Web links

Commons : Marinha Grande  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Map of the Freguesia Marinha Grande at the Instituto Geográfico do Exército
• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} www.ine.pt - indicator resident population by place of residence and sex; Decennial in the database of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística
2. ↑ ^{a b} Overview of code assignments from Freguesias on epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
3. ↑ http://www.hotfrog.pt/Empresas/Junta-de-Freguesia-da-Marinha-Grande  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ www.ine.pt - indicator resident population by place of residence and sex; Decennial in the database of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística
5. ↑ www.verportugal.net , accessed January 18, 2013
6. ↑ ww2.cm-mgrande.pt (under Concelho / História da Marinha Grande ), accessed on January 18, 2013
7. ↑ www.monumentos.pt (under Cronologia ), accessed on January 18, 2013
8. ↑ www.anmp.pt , accessed on January 18, 2013